Carrie Cash (Team Vera Bradley) was the most aggressive rider during most of the Women’s Pro 1/2/3 race, which featured tremendous action on the front all day. The field sprinted every prime and chased down every sprint with few significant breakaways. In the end, it came down to an exciting field sprint with Cari Higgins of Boulder, Co. (Peanut Butter & Co/TWENTY12) the first to cross the line, after her recent victory at the Minnesota Fixed Gear Classic. Taking the second step atop the podium, as her follow-up to an impressive showing at the Air Force Cycling Classic, was Sarah Caravella (BMW Bianchi). In third, it was Kacey Manderfield (Cycle Loft).

With a Men’s Pro 1/2 field of 133 riders, from the gun it was a thrilling race marked by high speeds topping 30 mph and massive primes. Kenda Pro Cycling presented by GEARGRINDER was all over the front and animating the race all day. By lap 5, there was a 4-man break, which dropped to three men and a 15-second gap with three laps to go. This field was logged with minimal movement.

On the final lap, it came down to Chad Hartley (Kenda Pro Cycling p/b GEARGRINDER) and Ryan Freund (Verizon U-25 Cycling Team p/b ABD and Universal Sports). Once Hartley took a look back at the 50-meter mark, Freund, who just started racing in 2008 and almost missed today’s race because of his day job as a civil engineer, launched an attack for the win.

Freund took the top spot, followed by reigning 2009 Tour of America’s Dairyland Overall Champ Hartley, and 2008 U.S. Pro Crit Champion Rahsaan Bahati (Bahati Foundation) taking third, after sneaking out of the field and heading to the line.

Tour of America’s Dairyland resumes on Friday at the Thiensville Fiddleheads Coffee Criterium before heading to Grafton on Saturday for the Giro d’ Grafton, part of the USA Criterium Series. For more info: www.TourofAmericasDairyland.com

The Tour of America’s Dairyland runs from June 17th through 27th and is sponsored by the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board